One-Pot Lentils + Quinoa with Spinach

Author - Alyssa Rimmer

A healthy, vegetarian dish these one-pot lentils and quinoa couldn't be easier. With spinach, mushrooms and lots of herbs, they're flavorful and delicious!

It’s official. I’ve launched us into Fall. I hope you can forgive me.

Even though we’re only a few days into September, and it’s still sweltering here in the City, my mind has moved from light, airy salads and onto the wonderfulness that is autumn cooking.

In particular cozy bowls of beans mixed with hearty veggies and quinoa. Like today’s one-pot lentils + quinoa. They’re warm and comforting like a bowl just wraps you up in a big food hug. Not to mention it’s filled with nutrients. It really is one of those meals that nourish you from the inside out.

The star of today’s show: LENTILS

Now I just have to say, lentils have not always been my favorite thing. They were certainly not on the top of my list when it came to beans (gimme all the chickpeas and black beans), BUT now that I’m eating more plant-centric, lentils have become a go-to protein source for me. I always have some in my fridge ready to be tossed in a salad, wrap or just eating with a bit of salt and pepper. They’re just easy. And SO good!

If you’re new to this little legume, here are 10 reasons why I love lentils:

They’re a fabulous source of plant-based protein, with one serving containing 11g ????????

They’re packed with fiber and have 19g (????????) per serving

They’re really high in iron and one serving contains 20% of your daily value ????????

They’re in other macronutrients like folate (disease-preventing), thiamin and phosphorus

They’re quick-cooking unlike most beans and can be made in under 20 minutes

They’re one of the oldest legumes ever – they’ve been dated back to 7,000BC (say whaaat!)

They’re a great meat substitute – just try them in burgers????????

They come in lots of different varieties

They’re used all over the world from Ethiopia to France to Iran (and NYC!)

They’re budget-friendly!????????

You can make an easy, one-pot vegan meal in 30 minutes!????

Oops, that was eleven. But they deserve it.

The lentils I used in today’s recipe are from Bob’s Red Mill and are definitely my new variety. I usually opt for French Green Lentils, but these ones, which are lighter and have a yellow hue to them, are spectacular. They have a milder flavor which I really like because that means you can add them to all sorts of dishes and unlike other types of lentils, they really hold their shape when they’re cooked. They have a super creamy texture and absorb other flavors like it’s nobody’s business.

Since this one-pot meal has loads of dried herbs, the lentils soaked it all up and brought everything together. Super simple and super delicious!

I don’t know why I don’t make many one-pot meals around here. They’re kind of brilliant. Clean up is a total breeze.

If you follow me on Snapchat (????alyssarimmer <– come snap with me!), then you’ve seen my kitchen after a day of recipe testing…not pretty. SO. MANY. DISHES. It’s the worst.

But this meal? Took me 5 minutes to clean my entire kitchen. Woah????

Okay back to the topic at hand: one-pot lentils.

As you’re working through the recipe, I want to suggest that if you can, use a Dutch oven or some other cast iron pot if you have one.

I find that when you make something like this in a traditional sauce pot, you don’t get all those gorgeous brown bits on the bottom which is where a lot of the flavor hides. So using a big pan like this one will really help you capture all the aromas and flavors from the ingredients.

Also, if you don’t need this recipe to be vegan, you could totally use chicken stock in place of the vegetable stock and it would still taste amazing.

Oh and you could also substitute any type of greens you want. I went with spinach because I love it, but it would be awesome with kale, chard or even collards. I’ll let you do you.

Once you’re ready to serve the lentils, might I suggest you drizzle with a generous helping of olive oil, so fresh herbs (I used chives) and some freshly grated parmesan cheese? You won’t be sorry.

But wait…cheese? On a vegan recipe?

Gotcha ???????? That fluffy white stuff on top of these bowls? That’s not cheese!????????????????

It’s freshly grated cashews, which a) totally looks like cheese and b) is freaking amazing! I’m doing this on all my pasta dishes from now until forever.

For this exact moment though, it’s just the perfect ending to this comforting bowl of lentils.

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large Dutch oven or cast iron pot. Add shallots and carrots and cook until the carrots have started to soften, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are juicy and tender, another 5 minutes.

This post was sponsored by the awesome folks Bob's Red Mill! Their lentils are Make sure to check out their entire line of products – there are tons of amazing gluten-free options. Thank you for supporting the brands that I am passionate about, it allows me to continue to produce these recipes for you!

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Hey there! I’m Alyssa, certified holistic nutritionist and founder of SQ. My goal is to help you take simple, practical and personal steps to living a healthier life so that you can be well + truly healthy.learn more

This was delicious, and I loved how quickly I could throw it together using items I already had on hand. We did not have mushrooms or carrots, however, and the dish was still great! Next time, I’ll add them for sure. Thank you!

Made this for lunch with my roommates on a snow day and we were impressed with how delicious it looked and tasted. I was skeptical about drizzling it with olive oil while serving it, but the light coating brought out the earthy flavors perfectly. We added sliced brussel sprouts and simmered it a bit longer to soak up all of the broth. The grated nut topping was fun to make and sprinkle onto our grain bowls! Thanks for this awesome recipe!

Yay! What a great recipe! I studied abroad in Chile a little over a year ago and my host mom made a dish almost exactly like this and it was one of my favorite things I ate while I was there!! So thank you for letting me feel some nostalgia 🙂 I changed things a bit to copy her more closely and added some sweet potato as well as onions to this recipe! I also ended up simmering it all at the end for an extra 10-15 just to soak up a little bit of the excess water/broth and cook the quinoa and lentils a bit more. Super yummy!!! Thanks again!

Always looking for a new recipe and this was so yummy, savory, filling & easy. I added shredded kale with the spinach & topped it with avocados as some I had were super ripe & I really loved your cashew idea. I made some extra cashews & jarred them for later. 😀 This took about 55 mins start to finish. That seems about right when dealing with lentils/quinoa. I think next time I will add more greens & maybe top with some tahini dressing or cashew cream & my hubby requested a side of cooked potato. Thanks for the recipe. I also enjoy your vlogs.

This was fabulous!! I used this recipe as a springboard but used red and green lentils, red onion, turmeric, bay leaves, and added chick peas. I topped mine with shredded cashew (such a fabulous touch), avocado, sriracha chives and nutritional yeast. 8 stars this was soo delicious!! Thank you

thank you for the recipe. The only things I had to go out and buy were the veggies, I had everything else on hand. Since I don’t like mushrooms, I substituted them for potatoes. I’m hoping to eat less meat this year 🙂

Although I usually end up substituting a ton of stuff (broke and busy college student here) I absolutely love this recipe at least as for loosely following in order to make a good soup with whatever I have on hand! I’ve made it a few times, a bit different each time depending on what I have at the moment, and it’s always turned out great!

Hi! How long will this keep in the fridge? Do you think it will freeze well? I like to meal prep for the whole week and typically freeze my meals that are eaten at the end of the week. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, this is just what I looking for! Love that it’s all in one pot. My only little tweaks: I added a bunch of chopped zucchini, probably about four cups. It could have handled even more, I would put in even more and other veggies next time. I added it at the same time as the quinoa. Spices: I had Italian herbs on hand so used those, it just includes basil along with what you listed. I also threw in about a teaspoon of cumin. No miso, but a teaspoon or so of coconut aminos. A note for others: if you don’t like heat at all, leave out the red pepper flakes. Just that half teaspoon does give it a noticeable spike. Perfect for me, but if you don’t like that, adjust accordingly.

It seems like this recipe is a great base from which to be creative, which I love. Thanks again!

Finally made this tonight and it was too spicy for me so I am going to double the quinoa and triple the lentils (cause I am trying to be replace meat). Hopefully that will dilute the spice in the batch I already made.

It was ok but I didn’t cook the secondary quinoa and or lentils long enough, it was still edible but I ended up letting half of it sit too long in the fridge. so I am going to try slightly different version…..without oil, without bay leaves (which I didn’t use the first time either because I didn’t want to buy a big jar) and again using bouillon cube instead of broth because it’s cheaper and using only 1 cube this time instead of 2…..so we will see…..also estimated nutritional info, not always exact, but it works for my purpose Ingredients: cal protein carbs fat ½ med onion 22 .6 5.1 .1 1 cup chopped carrots 52 1.2 12.3 .3 2 cups chopped mushrooms 87.4 6.8 16.5 1.5 2 garlic cloves, minced 8.9 .4 2 0 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary 1 cup Lentils 229 18 40 .8 1 bouillon cube 9.5 .7 1.1 .2 ½ cup red quinoa 320 12 60 5

Instructions: Heat a few tbsp of water over medium heat, add onions and carrots until start to soften Add mushrooms for another 5 minutes Add garlic, red pepper flakes, herbs, stir for 1 minute Pour in lentils, 4 cups water and bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for 15 minutes Add quinoa and ½ cup of water. Stir, bring to boil, recover and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes Check on it periodically in last 5 minutes Divide into 3 equal servings and refrigerate for 3-4 days.

While the dish was delicious, I think the recipe really underestimated the time it takes to make. I’m no stranger to the kitchen, and it still took me 20 or more minutes to prep all those ingredients, much longer than 3-4 minutes to soften the carrots (more like 15), and another 10-15 to cook the mushrooms until they released their water and were tender (rather than 5 mins). So that, plus the 30ish mins for the lentils and quinoa made it closer to an *hour* of cooking time. If the recipe had been accurate, I would have saved this for a weekend when I had more time rather than a weeknight when I can’t be spending an hour and a half in the kitchen.

Sorry it took longer than you anticipated! I tend to cook my veggies on fairly high heat and that was the amount of time it took me. Of course, every cook is different, so it’s hard to judge for others. Glad you enjoyed it!

Ah, I see. I cook mine on medium in my enameled cast iron because I don’t want to damage it.

The flavor was really earthy, as expected, so I added a few capfuls of lemon juice to brighten it up a bit. The flavor of the leftovers was even better after it had time to cool and let the spices meld!

Looks delicious. I can’t wait to make this. One note on the miso use; to preserve the nutritional benefits of the fermentation process, add miso after cooking, right before serving. Thanks for this recipe!!

Hey there! I’m Alyssa, certified holistic nutritionist and founder of SQ. My goal is to help you take simple, practical and personal steps to living a healthier life so that you can be well + truly healthy.learn more

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